Simplicity is a fundamental tenet of cognition intended to cope with a complex and intricate world. Based on the writings of the German philosopher Hans Vaihinger, this article introduces a wide-ranging simplification scheme denoted the “as if” heuristic. Following this heuristic, much of our productive and constructive thoughts about the world, specifically in science, are based on idealized fictitious assumptions. Although descriptions of the world as portrayed by psychological models and theories may contain fictitious elements (antithetical or at least indifferent to the search for truth), they afford a simplification tool that facilitates our comprehension of a complex and obscured world. Numerous examples from the psychological literature in which the “as if” heuristic is apparent are presented. Specifically, we analyze the implications of exploiting the heuristic for the development of psychological constructs, theory building, and the foundations of psychological measurement. While highlighting the gains acquired from the use of the “as if” heuristic, we also discuss its possible pitfalls if not properly used.

简单是认知的基本宗旨，旨在应对一个复杂而复杂的世界。基于德国哲学家汉斯·维辛格（Hans Vaihinger）的著作，本文介绍了一种广泛的简化方案，称为“好像”启发式方法。遵循这种启发式方法，我们对世界的许多生产性和建设性思想，特别是科学方面的思想，都基于理想化的虚拟假设。尽管心理模型和理论所描绘的世界描述可能包含虚构的元素（与对真理的寻求相反或至少无所谓），但它们提供了简化工具，有助于我们理解复杂而晦涩的世界。从心理学文献中可以找到许多例子，其中“好像”启发式是显而易见的。具体来说，我们分析了利用启发式方法对心理结构，理论构建和心理测量基础发展的意义。在强调通过使用“好像”启发法获得的收益时，